Model and Mercy to Mankind (2/3)

Muhammad (Peace be upon him) plays the role of the Messenger and he also is the best exemplar of how humans should live within the guidelines of the revelation. It is for this reason that the specifics of Muhammad’s (Peace be upon him) life assume importance for all people:

The power of the major leaders in history comes from their ability to help their fellow humans gain new insights into the nature of life and the universe which can help to resolve the great issues of their times. The truly greatest of these leaders are those who bring a vision that is not simply helpful during their lifetime but is understood by humans over many centuries to be a vision for other ages as well. The great prophets and teachers in history both represent a climax of the prior experiences and the gateway to a new era. These leaders thus fulfill the dual responsibility of providing a culmination, and a critique, of what has gone before and of defining new paths for humanity to follow. For Muslims, the content of this vision and message is revelation from God. The words of the Qur’an are not viewed as being the words of Muhammad (Peace be upon him). However, Muhammad plays the role of the messenger and he also is the best exemplar of how humans should live within the guidelines of the revelation. It is for this reason that the specifics of Muhammad’s (Peace be upon him) life assume importance for all people. (Dr. John O Voll, Foreword, “The Seven Phases of Prophet Muhammad’s Life” by Javeed Akhter, Published in the Journal “Studies in Contemporary Islam”, Volume 4, Number 1 spring 2002, Center for Islamic studies, Youngstown State University).

Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was the man who, of all men, exercised the greatest influence upon the human race:

Four years after the death of Justinian (A.D. 569) was born at Makkah, in Arabia, the man who, of all men, has exercised the greatest influence upon the human race. Mohammad (Peace be upon him) possessed that combination of qualities which more than once has decided the fate of empires....asserting that everlasting truth, he did not engage in vain metaphysics, but applied himself to improving the social condition of his people by regulating respecting personal cleanliness, sobriety, fasting and prayer. Above all other works, he esteemed alms-giving and charity. With a liberality to which the world had of late become a stranger, he admitted the salvation of men of any form of faith provided they were virtuous. To the declaration that there is but one Allah, he added, ‘And Mohammad is His prophet’. Whoever desires to know whether the event of things answered to the boldness of such an announcement will do well to examine a map of the world in our own times. He will find the marks of something more than an imposture. (J. W. Draper, 1875, pp. 329-330)

He (Peace be upon him) influenced more than half of all human beings in less than forty years:

Muhammad (Peace be upon him) established his religious system in a manner not only suitable to the sentiments of his compatriots, to their understanding and to the dominating customs of their country, but beyond this, so proportioned the common ideas of mankind that he converted more than one half of all human beings to his opinion and all this in less than forty years. Thus it seemed sufficient to cause the doctrine to be heard too, thereby subjecting the minds to it. (Boulainvilliers, La vie de Mahomed: Amsterdam, quoted in A. R. Shad, 1987 ed., pp. 193-194)

Regarded as the perfect man by the human race, Muhammad’s (Peace be upon him) behavior has been minutely imitated:

Serious or trivial, his daily behavior has instituted a cannon which millions observe to this day with conscious memory. No one regarded by any section of the human race as a perfect man has been imitated so minutely. The conduct of the Founder of Christianity has not governed the ordinary life of his followers. Moreover, no founder of a religion has left on solidarity an impact eminent as the Muslim Messenger. (D. G. Hogarth, 1922, p. 52)

Muhammad’s (Peace be upon him) idea of universal religion has become the means of converting to a high form of culture and civilization millions of the human race:

The idea of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) not to limit the benefits of Abraham’s religion to his own people, but to extend them to the world, has thus become the means of converting to a high form of culture and civilization, millions of the human race, who would either otherwise have remained sunk in barbarism, or would not have been raised to that brotherhood which “Islam” not only preaches but also practices. (G. W. Leitner, “Muhammadanism”, Quoted by S. N. Jung, 1981, p.17)

Muhammad (Peace be upon him) leads the list of the world’s most influential persons:

My choice of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) to lead the list of the world’s most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular level.

Of humble origins, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) founded and promulgated one of the world’s great religions, and became an immensely effective political leader. Today, thirteen centuries after his death, his influence is still powerful and pervasive.

...Like all religions, Islam exerts an enormous influence upon the lives of its followers. It is for this reason that the founders of the world’s great religions all figure prominently in this book. Since there are roughly twice as many Christians as Moslems in the world, it may initially seem strange that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) has been ranked higher than Jesus. There are two principal reasons for that decision. First, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) played a far more important role in the development of Islam than Jesus did in the development of Christianity. Although Jesus was responsible for the main ethical and moral precepts of Christianity (insofar as these differed from Judaism), St. Paul was the main developer of Christian theology, its principal proselytizer, and the author of a large portion of the New Testament.